– 14
I never found out what happened to the unsung hero of this story, Carl Spenhauer. Presumably, as a member of Switzerland’s diplomatic corps, he led a successful professional life and died, perhaps in the company of his family, somewhere in his beautiful homeland. I made it a habit of buying Montblanc pens, and the last one is still in a drawer in my office. I don’t use it; who pens letters any more? Still, I take it out occasionally, look at it, and remember my Swiss benefactor with undying gratitude.
Matias Travieso-Diaz was born in Cuba and migrated to the United States as a young man, escaping persecution by the Castro regime. He became an engineer and lawyer and practiced for nearly fifty years. He retired and turned his attention to creative writing. His stories have been published in over forty short story anthologies, magazines, audio books and podcasts, most recently the Grantville Gazette, After Dinner Conversation, Red Room Press and now in The Quiet Reader.